South Africa national elections 2024: Expat FAQs answered – How many eligible voters are there in the UK?

The deadline for registering to vote in the 2024 South Africa national elections – if you are based outside of Mzansi – is fast approaching.

With hours rather days remaining to sign up, there is still uncertainty as to how the process works.

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In an effort to make the exercise as simple as possible, the SAPeople website has exclusively engaged the help and expert assistance of Hayley Reichert to answer some of the more frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Reichert, who left Durban in 2008, now resides in London.

PART 1 | South Africa national elections 2024: Expat FAQs answered – How do I register?

PART 2 | South Africa national elections 2024: Expat FAQs answered – Do I need my SA ID and passport to vote?

PART 3 | South Africa national elections 2024: Expat FAQs answered – Is voting day the same day as in SA?

South Africans living in South Africa who are eligible to vote and have registered to do so, will go to the polls on Wednesday, 29 May 2024.

The day will be a public holiday.

In the fourth in a series of articles, the SAPeople website asked Reichert: “How many eligible voters are there in the United Kingdom – and how many have registered to date?”

There is no known exact number of valid South African citizens in the United Kingdom or globally.

Estimates vary wildly, but many believe there are between one to two million South Africans living, working or studying abroad with more than 210 000 in the UK.

There are more than 16 000 currently registered in the UK to vote in London which means it could be bigger than any voting station in South Africa.

Even with the likely extended hours of 07:00 to 23:30, we are going to struggle to get everyone through the doors of SA House. 

Current figures as of Wednesday, 21 February is that the total overseas registrations stands at 47 333.

We desperately need South Africans abroad to understand how important their vote is in this election, given the potential for there to be no outright majority party, and to make the effort to get registered and turn out to vote at their nearest foreign mission. 

Remember, registration closes at midnight (SA time) on Friday, 23 February. That’s TODAY!

Please check the user guide in the help section for information on uploading your ID document and check out these troubleshooting tips in the video below:

Hayley Reichert is a passionate South African, based in London. She has held roles with the SA Chamber of Commerce (UK), Nedbank SA Charity Golf Day, Democratic Alliance Abroad – where she initiated the loss of citizenship campaign – Home Away From Home repatriation & Project LISA (Locked in SA) expatriation projects during SA airspace closure in 2020 and Move One Million. Hayley also assisted South Africans who fled Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion and is currently working on a project to support a change in the political trajectory of South Africa in the 2024 General Elections.